Size 12 Glovers Needles (25 pc)

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Size 12 Glovers Needles are the smallest glovers needle we carry. These can be used with most Size 12/0 or larger beads. These glovers needles have a very sharp point but do not feature the sharp edges on the shaft, like larger sized glovers needles. These are a good option if you’re beading on very thick brain-tanned hide.

Sold in packs of 25. Made in China. Glovers needles are very sharp. They are not a toy. Not intended for use by children.

Glovers needles are a must-have tool for the powwow outfit-maker, moccasin maker, leathercrafters, and anyone else who works with leather or hide. Glovers needles are specially designed for sewing leather. These John James Glovers needles feature three sharp edges on the lower 1/3 of the needle shaft. This allows the needle to pierce leather when sewing. We don’t recommend using glovers needles on fabric, since the sharp sides can cut the fibers.

We carry a selection of sizes of glovers needles. The size you need depends primarily on three factors: whether you have brain/natural tanned or commercial tanned leather, the thickness of the leather, and the thickness of your stringing material (i.e. sinew vs thread). In general, the thicker the leather or stringing material, the larger needle you want. Needles, like beads, are sizes “the bigger the number, the smaller the needle”. So Size 1 Needles are larger and Size 4 Needles are smaller. If you need a glovers needle to bead with, please choose Size 10 or Size 12 needles, depending on your size of beads.

Commercial vs. Brain/natural Tanning:

Commercially tanned leather (like that you find on store-bought apparel or from many leather traders) is smooth on one side. This smooth side is especially hard to pierce with a needle. Thus, commercially tanned leather often requires a larger glovers needle.Brain or naturally tanned leather is suede-like on both sides. During the tanning process the hypodermis (the skin layer containing hair follicles) is removed from the hide. This makes it much easier to sew brain-tanned hides. Some soft deer hides can even beaded with sharps needles or sewn with regular sewing needles. However, thicker skins, like moose and elk often require glovers needles.